Cumbria ‘open for business’ as vital road reopens after winter floods

A vital road through the Lake District which collapsed in the winter floods has re-opened just in time for the summer holiday season.

The A591, the main north-sound link between the tourist honeypots of Grasmere and Keswick, fell victim to a landslide during Storm Desmond.

Locals have were hit by long diversions and a shuttle bus had to be put on for school children, while businesses faced losses totalling millions of pounds due to the closure.

“We are showing the country, and the world, that Cumbria and the Lake District are back open for business”

Floods Minister Rory Stewart

Liberal Democrat leader and Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron had warned that the South Lakes economy would lose £100m if the road remained closed until the end of May.

The road was opened three weeks ahead of scheduled today by Floods Minister Rory Stewart and Cumbria County Council leader Stewart Young.

A minibus of schoolchildren from Grasmere Primary School was the first to travel along it, followed by vintage cars from Lakeland Motor Museum.

Worst-hit council

Mr Stewart said: “We are showing the country, and the world, that Cumbria and the Lake District are back open for business.”

Highways England worked with Cumbria County Council to repair the four-mile stretch of road and resurface an area the size of six football pitches.

Cumbria had been the worst-hit council and saw around £175 million in damage to local authority-owned infrastructure, with costs for flood-hit bridges, landslips, carriageway damage and survey work.

More than £250 million has now been provided to areas to make sure communities can get back on their feet and help the North recover from flooding caused by the December storms.

Council leader Mr Young said: “I’m absolutely delighted that with the weather finally improving, local residents and visitors to the county will now be able to travel easily between the north and south of the Lake District.

“The floods caused a huge amount of damage to the county’s infrastructure and this unique collaborative effort between local and central government has allowed us to focus our efforts on the many other major repair tasks we’ve had to deal with.”

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